Nearly 100 million Chinese people supplied drinking water with ‘unsafe’ levels of toxic chemicals
- Researchers from Tsinghua University found that levels of per and polyfluoroalkyls in 16 cities exceeded contamination limits used in the US
- Some of the most toxic chemicals found have been linked to health problems such as kidney and liver cancer
Drinking water provided to nearly 100 million people in China has levels of toxic chemicals that exceed safe limits, researchers have found.
A team from Tsinghua University monitored the levels of per and polyfluoroalkyls (PFAS) – man-made chemicals used in everything from fabrics to pesticides – using data from previous studies.
By analysing data from 526 drinking water samples across 66 cities with a total population of 450 million, the study found that the concentration of PFAS in more than 20 per cent of the studied cities – 16 in total – exceeded safe levels.
China has no national safety standards, so the study used the US state of Vermont’s regulations as the benchmark.
In general, eastern, southern and southwest China had higher levels of PFAS compared with other regions. Major cities including Beijing and Shanghai were under the limit.
